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WELCOME TO THE HASTINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY ANNUAL MEETING AND LECTURE.
UM, THE ANNUAL MEETING WILL TAKE ABOUT FIVE, 10 MINUTES.
UM, IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF BUSINESS THAT WE HAVE TO CONDUCT EVERY YEAR.
UM, WE REELECT TRUSTEES AND ELECT NEW TRUSTEES.
BUT BEFORE WE START, I WANNA GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO OUR, UH, TREASURER, UH, DAVID FORBES WATKINS, WHO IS STEPPING DOWN AFTER 14 YEARS OF BEING OUR TREASURER.
UM, WE WANNA THANK HIM FOR HIS HARD WORK AND DEDICATION.
UM, DAVID, COULD YOU RAISE YOUR HAND? YES, DAVID.
AND SITTING NEXT TO HIM IS HIS WIFE, WHO WAS ALSO OUR TRUSTEE, SO THEY'RE LIKE TRULY THE POWER COUPLE OF THE HASTINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
SO EILEEN WAS ALSO ON OUR BOARD, SO WE'D LIKE TO THANK YOU BOTH AND DAVID, ESPECIALLY YOU, FOR YOUR HARD WORK, UM, AS TREASURER.
UM, AND NOW I'M GOING TO INTRODUCE OUR NOMINATING COMMITTEE, WHO IS SUE SMITH, OUR VILLAGE HISTORIAN, SUE.
OH, IT'S LOVELY TO SEE SUCH A BIG CROWD THAT ARE INTERESTED IN HASTINGS HISTORY AND SOME OF YOU PART OF IT,
UM, WE HAVE, UH, TO, UH, ELECT, UH, THE BOARD THAT WE HAVE THREE YEAR, UH, CYCLES.
AND WE HAVE ONE NEW PERSON WHO IS TIM BERRY, HAPPENS TO BE CONNECTED WITH MRS. BERRY.
UH, WOULD YOU STAND UP AS I SAY YOUR NAME? 'CAUSE PEOPLE DON'T NECESSARILY KNOW YOU.
JUDY TIM'S AT THE BACK DEALING WITH CHAIRS.
WHERE IS
SO I WOULD REQUEST IF THERE'S ANYBODY WHO WISHES TO VOLUNTEER THEMSELVES BE ON THE BOARD.
UM, WE'RE LUCKY, I THINK THAT SO MANY PEOPLE STICK WITH THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY BEING ON THE BOARD FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, AND SO THAT THEY REALLY BECOME PART OF THE HISTORY, I GUESS
BUT, BUT IT'S, IT'S REALLY WONDERFUL THAT PEOPLE ARE SO DEDICATED.
JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY, WITH THOSE OF YOU WHO VOLUNTEER ACTIVELY AT THE SOCIETY, SOCIETY RAISE, JUST RAISE YOUR HAND.
THERE'S A BUNCH OF YOU IN THE MIDDLE THERE, JUST BECAUSE THERE'S, THERE'S LOTS OF US.
SOME, YEAH, WE NEED EVERY ONE OF THEM.
AND IT'S, IT'S AN EXCITING PLACE TO WORK.
IT'S LOTS OF FUN AND VERY INTERESTING.
SO IF YOU'RE EVER LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO IN RETIREMENT OR BEFORE, UM, KEEP US IN MIND.
UH, SO I WOULD PROPOSE THE SLATE THAT YOU HAVE JUST HEARD AND ASK FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, UH, IN FAVOR OF THAT, RAISE YOUR HANDS.
AND MANY OF YOU AND ANYONE OPPOSED,
UH, THE NAME OF THE PRESENTATION IS GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN, UH, THE LOST BUILDINGS OF HASTINGS.
AND, UM, I'M GONNA FOCUS ON BUILDINGS, BOTH COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL.
AND YEAH, I GUESS THOSE ARE THE TWO CATEGORIES THAT ARE NO LONGER HERE.
UM, AND I WANNA TELL YOU QUICKLY HOW THIS, THE GENESIS OF THIS, UH, PRESENTATION GOT STARTED.
UM, YOU MAY KNOW THAT THE SECOND GRADERS AT HILLSIDE DO LOCAL HISTORY, UM, WHEN THEY'RE IN SECOND GRADE.
AND SO I GET ASKED TO COME IN AND DO A PRESENTATION, AND I HAVE KIND OF A FUN PRESENTATION.
I THINK IT'S FUN ANYWAY, UM, AND PART OF IT IS WHAT IS, WHAT WAS THIS BEFORE AND WHAT'S THERE NOW? SO I PRESENT, I SHOW A, A PICTURE FROM LONG AGO, AND THE KIDS HAVE TO GUESS WHAT IT IS NOW.
SO YOU GUYS DON'T HAVE TO GUESS, BUT THIS IS SORT OF, AND I THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, THEY REALLY ENJOY IT AND I ENJOY IT.
AND I THOUGHT, WELL, MAYBE ADULTS WOULD ENJOY IT.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO.
I'M GOING TO SHOW A PICTURE, I'LL GIVE A BRIEF EXPLANATION, AND THEN I'LL TALK ABOUT WHO LIVED THERE OR WHO WORKED THERE, WHAT WAS IT ALL ABOUT, WHAT HAPPENED TO IT, AND WHAT'S THERE NOW.
IF YOU CAN HOLD YOUR QUESTIONS TILL THE END.
THERE'LL BE A QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTION AT THE VERY END.
UM, BUT WE'RE GONNA GET STARTED.
AND IT'S IN ROUGH CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
UM, NOT QUITE MAYBE EXACT, BUT I'M TRYING TO DO THE OLDER STRUCTURES OR THE STORY BEHIND THE OLDER STRUCTURES FIRST, AND THEN THE MORE RECENT STUFF LATER ON.
SO THE FIRST ONE IS THE MARBLE CASTLE.
AND SOME OF YOU, IF YOU'VE BEEN HERE FOR A WHILE, YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THAT'S ALL ABOUT.
SO WE HAVE A QUARRY, UM, LOCATED
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OFF OF TODAY'S OLD CROTON AQUEDUCT TRAIL, AND IT WAS HASTINGS FIRST MAJOR INDUSTRY.UM, MARBLE WAS QUARRIED THERE AS EARLY AS 1828.
UM, IN 1834, THE ESTATE ON WHICH IT WAS LOCATED WAS SOLD TO BRITISH ARTIST GEORGE HARVEY, WHO YOU SEE HERE ON THE RIGHT.
UM, THE STRUCTURE IN THIS PHOTO ON THE LEFT IS FROM 1924, THE PHOTO, AND IT WAS HARVEY'S PROPERTY AND WAS MADE OF MARBLE FROM HIS QUA.
UH, LATER OWNERS ADDED A TOWER AND THEY ADDED A BALLROOM TO THE STRUCTURE, AND IT BECAME KNOWN AS THE MARBLE CASTLE.
HERE'S A REALLY INTERESTING MAP DATED 1849 OF, UM, ARTIST GEORGE HARVEY'S PROPERTY.
WE BELIEVE IT WAS ACTUALLY DRAWN BY THE ARTIST HIMSELF.
UM, WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK AT IT CLOSELY, THERE'S SOME INDICATION THAT THIS IS AN ORDINARY MAPMAKER.
THE PROPERTY'S 20 PLUS ACRES INCLUDED THE QUARRY HARVEY'S HOUSE, AND SOME GARDENS THERE WERE ORCHARDS AS WELL.
WHAT'S LABELED AS THE WHITE MARBLE QUARRY CAN BE SEEN AT THE ONE O'CLOCK POSITION ON THE MAP.
IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY, YOU CAN SEE THE PATH OF THE INCLINE RAILROAD RUNNING VERTICALLY.
JUST BELOW THE, UH, QUARRY, THAT PRIVATE LITTLE RAILROAD CARRIED MARBLE DOWN TO THE QUARRY WHARF ON THE HUDSON FOR SHIPMENT.
UM, THE LITTLE SKETCHES ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE MAP SHOW SOME OF THE BUILDINGS THAT WERE ON THE PROPERTY AT THAT TIME, AND THE SKETCHES ARE SO ARTISTIC, THAT'S WHY WE THINK THE ARTIST HIMSELF DREW THIS MAP.
UM, THE SKETCH AT THE TOP LOOKS LIKE THE MARBLE CASTLE MINUS THE TURRET.
SO IN RECENT TIMES, THIS IS WHAT THE CASTLE LOOKED LIKE.
UM, THIS IMAGE HERE IS FROM THE 1950S LOOKING A LITTLE RAGGEDY.
UM, DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY, THE CASTLE WAS AN APARTMENT BUILDING THAT FRONTED ON WARBURG AVENUE.
WE KNOW THAT IN THE 1915 TIMEFRAME, MEETINGS OF THE UKRAINIAN TERRAS EMKO SOCIETY NAMED FOR UKRAINE'S NATIONAL POET, WERE HELD HERE IN THIS BUILDING.
IN THE EARLY 1960S, THE CASTLE WAS DEEMED TO BE STRUCTURALLY UNSOUND.
SO WHAT IS THERE NOW? UM, TODAY IT'S THE SITE OF THE VEST, POCKET PARK LOCATED BETWEEN 4 0 8 AND FOUR 14 OR AVENUE ACROSS THE STREET, AND A LITTLE, LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH FROM ANTOINETTE.
FUNNY THAT YOU WOULD TO, YOU WOULDN'T THINK THAT THERE WOULD BE A HOUSE THERE ORIGINALLY, BUT THAT'S WHERE IT WAS.
THIS ONE'S A COMMERCIAL BUILDING.
HENRY CATTON HORN, A GERMAN BORN IMMIGRANT PURCHASED A SITE ON THE HASTINGS WATERFRONT IN 1853.
SHORTLY AFTER THE RAILROAD CAME THROUGH, HE BUILT A LARGE SIX STORY REFINERY, WHICH IS SHOWN HERE IN A LITHOGRAPH THAT WAS DRAWN IN 1855.
NOTICE THE TRAIN RUNNING BY THE, UM, THE REFINERY ON, ON THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING.
IN 1861, CAT HORN WAS JOINED BY IDA HOKEY, YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE THE NAME, AND HIS BROTHER MATTHIAS.
BY 1872, CAT HORN HAD DIED, AND THE OTHER PARTNER AND OTHER PARTNERS JOINED THE BUSINESS.
IN 1875, THE COMPANY SPENT $25,000, WHICH WAS A LOT BACK THEN ON IMPROVEMENTS, WHICH INCREASED THE SUGAR OUTPUT SIGNIFICANTLY.
IT WAS A BIG BUSINESS AT THE TIME.
UNFORTUNATELY, ON DECEMBER 26TH OF THAT SAME YEAR, FIRE BROKE OUT AND QUICKLY SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE REFINERY.
UNFORTUNATELY, WE DON'T HAVE A PHOTO OF THE FIRE.
SO THIS IS A CONTEMPORARY IMAGE.
JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA, IT RAGED UNCONTROLLABLY WITH NO FIRE COMPANY IN HASTINGS.
FRANTIC TELEGRAPHS WENT OUT ASKING FOR HELP FROM MANHATTAN'S FIREBOATS, BUT THE FLAMES QUICKLY CONSUMED THE BUILDING.
UM, I HAVE HEARD THAT, UH, SUGAR DUST IS VERY FLAMMABLE, WHICH KIND OF MAKES SENSE.
SO IT, IT JUST CONSUMED, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS BRICK, THE THE ENTIRE BUILDING WAS CONSUMED.
DAMAGE ESTIMATES RANGED FROM 500,000 TO $1 MILLION, THE EQUIVALENT OF 14 TO $27 MILLION.
TODAY, THE REFINERIES 150 TO 200 WE'RE NOT SURE EXACTLY HOW MANY WORKERS, MOST OF THEM GERMAN IMMIGRANTS FOUND THEMSELVES JOBLESS.
MANY OF THEM LEFT THE VILLAGE WHOSE POPULATION WAS ONLY 1,200 AT THE TIME.
WHAT'S THERE NOW?
UM, THE SUGAR REFINERY FIRE MOTIVATED HASTINGS TO OR ORGANIZE A FIREFIGHTING COMPANY.
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FROM THE FIRE'S RUBBLE WERE USED TO BUILD THE HASTINGS HASTINGS FIRST FIREHOUSE PROTECTION ENGINE.COMPANY NUMBER ONE, SHOWN IN THIS PHOTO TAKEN LAST YEAR NOTE THE BELL, WHICH FOR MANY YEARS WAS IN A TOWER ABOVE THE FIREHOUSE.
TODAY IT SITS IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING.
OLD NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS SAY THAT THE BELL SAL SALVAGE FROM THE FIRE WAS USED TO TOLL THE WORKING HOURS OF THE SUGAR REFINERY.
AS AN INTERESTING ASIDE, THE HASTINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY HAS IN ITS COLLECTION, THE AMERICAN FLAG THAT USED TO FLY OVER THE REFINERY.
IT'S ON DISPLAY IN A CASE IN OUR CURRENT EXHIBIT, WHICH IS ABOUT HASTINGS INDUSTRY.
WE INVITE YOU TO COME AND SEE IT IN PERSON.
IT'S KIND OF INTERESTING THAT WE HAVE A FLAG FROM THAT MANY YEARS AGO, TOO.
NOW I THOUGHT ABOUT PUTTING SOME OTHER, UM, INDUSTRIES IN THERE BECAUSE THERE WERE AN AWFUL LOT OF INDUSTRIES ON THE WATERFRONT THAT ARE NO LONGER THERE.
BUT THEN I WANT YOU GUYS TO COME AND SEE THE EXHIBIT, WHICH IS ALL ABOUT HASTINGS INDUSTRIES
SO THIS IS THE ONLY INDUSTRY THAT I INCLUDED.
SO THE NEXT LOST BUILDING IS A RESIDENCE CALLED THE HEMLOCKS.
A GRACEFUL HOUSE WAS BUILT ON SOUTH BROADWAY NEAR THE YONKERS BORDER IN THE LATE 1850S FOR CW THOMAS.
WE DON'T KNOW A LOT ABOUT CW EXCEPT THAT HE WAS A RETIRED GENTLEMAN OF MEANS.
IT WAS PURCHASED IN 1877 BY ROBERT BEAR, A GERMAN IMMIGRANT WHO WAS ONE OF THE OWNERS OF THE BEAR BROTHERS PIANO COMPANY OF NEW YORK CITY.
THE BEAR FAMILY CALLED THEIR ESTATE THE HEMLOCKS, IN REFERENCE TO THE OVER 100 TOWERING HEMLOCK TREES ON THE PROPERTY.
THE EXTENDED BEAR FAMILY LIVED IN BROOKLYN, BUT USED THE HEMLOCKS AS A SUMMER RETREAT.
IN THE 1890S, THE BEARS EXPANDED THE HOUSE TO INCLUDE 15 BEDROOMS AND A NEW SERVANT'S DORMITORY, A BARN AND A SWIMMING POOL.
THERE WAS A CROQUET LAWN AND A GRASS TENNIS COURT, ALONG WITH A SPECTACULAR VIEW OF THE HUDSON.
ACCORDING TO A NEPHEW WHO WROTE AN ARTICLE FOR US IN 1969, THERE WOULD OFTEN BE 17 OR 18 BEAR FAMILY MEMBERS VISITING AND SITTING DOWN FOR A COMMUNAL DINNER, DINNER AFTER A BUSY DAY OF OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES.
YOU COULD SEE THE TENNIS RACKETS IN THE PHOTO BICYCLES.
SO IN 18, SORRY, IN 1981, OH, I'M SORRY, I MISSED TALKING ABOUT, UM, THE TASKERS.
UM, SEVERAL GENERATIONS OF THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS LIVED THERE UNTIL 1921.
IN THE EARLY 1930S, LAWRENCE H TASKER OF YONKERS BOUGHT THE PROPERTY.
IT BECAME KNOWN AS THE BEAR TASKER HOUSE.
IN THE 1940S, TASKER PETITIONED THE VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR PERMISSION TO CONSTRUCT AN APARTMENT BUILDING ON HIS PROPERTY.
THE, THE PROPOSAL WAS DEFEATED EACH TIME AFTER HIS DEATH, HIS WIDOW LIVED IN THE HOUSE UNTIL 18, 19 80, WHEN THE PROPERTY WAS ACQUIRED BY ATTORNEY MATTHEW LIFT LAND.
IN 1981, LANDER SOLD THE ESTATE TO YONKERS DEVELOPER WALTER STANLEY AMID SOME CONTROVERSY.
THE VILLAGE REZONED THE PROPERTY AND THE HOUSE WAS DEMOLISHED.
IN 1982, A THREE UNIT TOWNHOUSE COMPLEX WAS CONSTRUCTED.
SHORTLY AFTER THE NAME OF THE COMPLEX HASTINGS LANDING MAY REFER TO THE GEORGE HARVEY WATERCOLOR OF THAT NAME, WHICH WAS ON THE, UH, OF THE HUDSON, JUST BELOW THAT SITE.
SO THAT'S WHERE BROADWAY SPLITS.
OKAY, THE NEXT BUILDING IS CALLED ELM CROFT.
NOW, I JUST WANNA POINT OUT THAT WHEN WEALTHY PEOPLE BOUGHT ESTATES IN HASTINGS, THEY OFTEN NAME THEIR ESTATES.
THE HOUSE SHOWN HERE IS BEST KNOWN AS THE RESIDENT OF JAMES J TRAINOR, A PROMINENT BUSINESSMAN AND FORMER VILLAGE PRESIDENT.
AND BACK IN THE DAY, THEY CALLED THE MAYOR'S PRESIDENT.
I'M NOT SURE WHY, UH, SAID TO HAVE BEEN BUILT BY ABRAHAM LEFARGE.
THE HOUSE WAS LIKELY CONSTRUCTED THE MID 18 HUNDREDS AND STOOD ON A PRIME RIVERVIEW LOCATION.
DURING TRAINER'S TIME, THE HOUSE WAS KNOWN AS ELM CROFT.
THIS IS ONE OF THE ONES THAT I SHOW THE KIDS, AND I SAY TO THEM, TAKE A LOOK AT THE STAIRS.
GUESS WHAT THIS IS? SO YEAH, SOME OF THEM DO ACTUALLY.
THEY USED TO GET IT BETTER WHEN THE FARMER'S MARKET WAS HERE, ACTUALLY.
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A LITTLE, THEY'RE, IF THEY GO TO THE LIBRARY A LOT, THEY GET IT.SO IN, IN 1882, GEORGE HURST AND PATRICK TRAINOR ESTABLISHED A BLUE STONE YARD AND A MILL ON THE HASTINGS WATERFRONT.
AND JAMES TRAINOR, PATRICK TRAINOR'S SON, MOVED TO THE AREA TO BE THE LOCAL MANAGER.
BY THE TIME HIS YOUNGER BROTHER, FRANK JOINED THE BUSINESS.
A FEW YEARS LATER, THE STONEWORKS WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST EMPLOYERS IN HASTINGS.
THE BUSINESS BECAME SUCCESSFUL FAST AS THE COMPANY HAD TWO ADVANTAGES OVER EVERY OTHER FIRM.
IT WAS THE ONLY STONE DEALERSHIP WITHIN 20 MILES OF NEW YORK CITY, AND IT WAS LOCATED NEXT TO A TRAIN, THE BLUESTONE THAT WAS THE BUSINESS'S SPECIALTY.
YIK, THE BLUESTONE THAT WAS THE BUSINESSES SPECIALTY, WAS BROUGHT DOWN FROM OXFORD, NEW YORK IN UPSTATE NEW YORK, AND MILLED AT THE HASTINGS FACILITY.
IT WAS USED TO MAKE SIDEWALKS AND OTHER ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS, INCLUDING THE TOMB THAT HOLDS THE REMAINS OF ULYSSES S.
EVENTUALLY, HEARST'S INVOLVEMENT CEASED FOR UNKNOWN REASONS, AND THE COMPANY'S NAME WAS CHANGED TO TRAINER'S.
JAMES TRAINOR HAD A HAND IN POLITICS AS WELL.
WHEN HASTINGS FOURTH PRESIDENT, JOSEPH PHILLIPS DIED UNEXPECTEDLY IN 1887, TRAINER WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF HASTINGS WITHOUT MUCH OPPOSITION.
HE WON EVERY SINGLE VOTE IN TOWN, BUT FOUR, AFTER HIS TERM WAS OVER, LESS THAN A YEAR LATER, HE DECLINED TO RUN AGAIN.
SO HE WAS THE EMERGENCY FILL-IN, BUT HE, HE HAD NO INTEREST IN POLITICS AFTER THAT.
HERE'S A LITTLE SIDE STORY ABOUT TRAINOR.
ON MARCH 12TH, 1888, A DEVASTATING SNOWSTORM, WHICH BECAME KNOWN AS THE BLIZZARD OF 1888, HIT THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.
THIS WAS OF COURSE BEFORE WE HAD METEOROLOGISTS TELLING US THAT WE WERE ABOUT TO GET A SNOWSTORM.
UM, MANY TRAINS BETWEEN NEW YORK CITY AND ALBANY WERE STOPPED IN THEIR TRACKS WITH PASSENGERS STUCK INSIDE.
THE IMAGE YOU SEE HERE IS ACTUALLY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
WE DON'T HAVE ONE IN HASTINGS.
JAMES TRAINOR MADE HIS WAY THROUGH THE STORM INTO A TRAPPED TRAIN JUST OUTSIDE OF HASTINGS TO TELL ITS PASSENGERS THAT HIS HOUSE WAS OPEN TO AS MANY AS COULD FIT IN.
AN ABUNDANCE OF FOOD AND WARMTH WAS OFFERED TO THE STRANDED PASSENGERS.
THE STORY OF TRAINER'S HOSPITALITY.
DURING THIS BLIZZARD RECEIVED A LOT OF NEWSPAPER COVERAGE AND WOULD ENTER THE ANNALS OF HASTINGS LORE.
BY THE LATE 1890S, TRAINER HAD LEFT THE VILLAGE FOR UNKNOWN REASONS.
AND A SUCCESSION OF OWNERS TOOK POSSESSION OF THE PROPERTY.
CARL DOER, A PROPRIETOR OF A SMALL LOCAL SUGAR REFINERY, WAS ONE OF THEM.
BY THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, THE BUILDING WAS KNOWN AS THE CRIMMINS HOUSE.
SO WHAT'S THERE NOW?
THE FOLLOWING YEAR, ELM CROFT WAS DEMOLISHED TO MAKE WAY FOR THE VILLAGE'S NEW MUNICIPAL BUILDING.
THE NEW BUILDING WAS DESIGNED BY ARCHITECT OF THE EMPIRE, OOPS, SORRY.
THE ARCHITECT OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING.
UM, THE FIRM WAS CALLED SHRIEVE LAMB AND HARMAND.
RICHARD SHREVE, A PARTNER IN THE FIRM, WAS A RESIDENT RESIDENT OF HASTINGS.
MANY HASTINGS RESIDENTS LENT A HAND IN THE BUILDING'S CONSTRUCTION.
UM, BOTH RESIDENTS OF HASTINGS RAPHA MANNI CREATED THE EAGLE THAT ONCE CROWNED THE BUILDING.
AND YOU COULD SEE THE EAGLE NOW ON THE PORTICO OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING.
AND JOHN DONNELLY PROVIDED THE BRONZE TABLET AT THE ENTRANCE.
OKAY, NEXT LOST BUILDING IS THE LINDENS.
THERE SEEMED TO BE A LOT OF TREES INVOLVED IN, IN THE NAMES.
THE HOUSE THAT ONCE STOOD AT 55 MAPLE AVENUE WAS PURCHASED FROM THE COE FAMILY BY HENRY COLLINS BROWN AND HIS FIRST WIFE.
THE BROWNS LIVED THERE WITH THEIR SIX CHILDREN AT LEAST PART-TIME AS EARLY AS 1899.
THE HOUSE DURING THEIR TENURE WAS CALLED THE LINDENS.
SO WHO WAS HENRY COLLINS BROWN? HE WAS A PROLIFIC WRITER, A FOUNDER OF THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, AND THE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF VALENTINE'S MANUAL HARDBOUND ANNUALS THAT CONTAINED ARTICLES ABOUT AN ILLUSTRATIONS OF OLD NEW YORK.
BROWN PUBLISHED A DOZEN VOLUMES OF THE SERIES BETWEEN 1916 AND 1928.
IN THE 11TH VOLUME PUBLISHED IN 1927, BROWN STATES THAT THE MANUAL WILL HEREAFTER BE ISSUED FROM HIS HOME IN HASTINGS ON HUDSON, UM, AN UNKNOWN
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SUBSEQUENT WHOOP, SORRY, I DID IT AGAIN.UM, AN UNKNOWN, AN UNKNOWN SUBSEQUENT OWNER PARTITIONED THE HOUSE INTO SEVERAL APARTMENTS.
WE HAVE REMINISCENCES OF RESIDENTS WHO LIVED IN THE APARTMENTS IN THE 18, 1940S.
SORRY, WHO REMEMBER THE BUILDING'S QUIRKY LAYOUT.
IT WAS CHOPPED UP IN A WEIRD WAY, APPARENTLY, AND THEY THOUGHT, AND IT WAS AN INTERESTING APARTMENT BUILDING.
IT BECAME A BELOVED IF WELL WORN HOME FOR A SUCCESSION OF HASTING FAMILY.
SO WHAT'S THERE NOW? THE HOUSE WAS TORN DOWN, AND THE RIVER EDGE RENTAL APARTMENTS RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO US HERE BECAME AVAILABLE IN SEPTEMBER OF 1960.
THE COMPLEX CONSISTS OF 113 GARDEN STYLE APARTMENTS WITH AT LEAST PART OF THE SITE PREVIOUSLY BEING PART OF THE HEMLOCK.
SEVERAL YEARS AGO, THE COMPLEX WAS CONVERTED INTO CO-OP.
THIS ONE IS FAIRLY NEW TO US, ACTUALLY.
WE GOT IN, UM, A RELATIVE OF THE MILLS FAMILY GOT IN TOUCH WITH US, AND WE GOT A LOT OF NEW MATERIAL.
SO THIS IS KIND OF FUN FOR US, THAT IT'S NEW.
HERE'S A PHOTO FROM 1893 OF THE MILLS HOUSE, WHICH STOOD ON A HILL OVERLOOKING DOWNTOWN HASTINGS IN THE LATE 18 HUNDREDS AND EARLY 19 HUNDREDS.
THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE YOU SEE HERE ON IS FACE THE HUDSON.
WE KNOW FROM OLD MAPS THAT THE GROUNDS INCLUDED A SWEEPING CIRCULAR DRIVEWAY THAT CAME UP FROM TODAY'S MAIN STREET.
SO WHO WERE THE MILLS? UM, EDMUND MILLS SENIOR WAS THE SECOND PRESIDENT AND MAYOR OF HASTINGS SERVING JUST A COUPLE OF YEARS AFTER THE VILLAGE WAS INCORPORATED IN 1879.
HE RAN FOR A SECOND TERM IN 1882, BUT WAS DEFEATED BY GEORGE BAKER, THE LOCAL UNDERTAKER AND THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THE BAKER FUNERAL HOME.
UM, HERE'S SOME INFORMATION FROM A HASTINGS NEWS ARTICLE DATED AUGUST 18TH, 1933.
EDMUND S MILLS WAS A NEW YORK CLOTHING MERCHANT OF SUBSTANTIAL REPUTATION.
HIS IMPOSING HOUSE STOOD HIGH ABOVE LANDING ROAD, WHICH IS NOW MAIN STREET.
HIS PORTRAIT IN THE HASTINGS ON HUDSON MUNICIPAL BUILDING, WHICH IS THIS ONE HERE, UM, SHOWS HIM TO HAVE BEEN A HANDSOME MAN WITH A BROAD BROW, FINE EYES AND CLEAN SHAVEN UPPER LIP, BUT WITH THE WIDE BEARD OF THE TIME, FRINGING HIS CHIN.
SO, ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE, MR. MILLS MADE THE SLOW TRIP TWO HOURS EACH WAY FROM HASTINGS TO MANHATTAN DAILY BY BOAT VERSUS THE QUICKER TRAIN SERVICE.
THAT'S INTERESTING, BECAUSE IT MEANS HE HAD FOUR HOURS TO SPEND COMMUTING INTO WORK.
UM, AND IT WASN'T UNTIL THEY WERE ELECTRIFIED, LIKE LATER ON THAT PEOPLE REALLY COULD COMMUN ON THEM.
SO EDMUND MILL'S SON, WHO IS ALSO CALLED EDMOND, UM, WAS A REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER.
HE BUILT FOUR HOUSES ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF MAIN STREET IN THE 1890S.
THEY WERE CALLED THE MILLS COTTAGES AND CAN BE SEEN ON SEVERAL MAPS IN THE, IN, UM, IN THE EARLY 19 HUNDREDS.
ONE AS A PRIVATE HOUSE, ONE AS A COMPASS REAL ESTATE OFFICE, AND TWO OTHERS WITH ADDITIONS IN THE FRONT AS COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES.
ONE WAS UNTIL FAIRLY RECENTLY, THE LOCATION OF PETER ESTATE, BOTH COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS NOW, HOUSE MEDICAL AND DENTAL OFFICES.
IT IS TOUGH TO SEE THAT THEY'RE ALL, THEY WERE ALL SIMILAR AT ONE POINT UNTIL THOSE, UH, ADDITIONS WERE ADDED IN THE FRONT.
SO WHAT'S THERE NOW, AND THIS REFERS TO THE MILLS HOUSE.
UM, THE MILLS FAMILY HOME WAS ON THE TOP OF THIS HILL ON WHAT IS NOW WHITMAN STREET.
THE HOUSE WAS LOCATED IN A SPOT BEHIND THIS BANK BUILDING, WHICH WAS BUILT AFTER THE HOUSE WAS TORN DOWN.
AND LIKE I SAID, WE WERE SOMEWHAT UNAWARE OF THIS UNTIL FAIRLY RECENTLY.
UM, THE NEXT ONE, SOME OLD TIMERS MAY REMEMBER, IS THE CHRISTIE ESTATE.
UM, HERE'S THE BACKGROUND ON THAT PROPERTY.
PETER POST OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR FAME SOLD HIS 286 ACRE PROPERTY IN 1819, AND IT CHANGED HANDS SEVERAL A SECOND TIME IN 1828, WHEN THE CHRISTIE FAMILY FROM BEACON BOUGHT A PIECE OF IT.
THEIR PROPERTY ENCOMPASSED THE PARCEL ON THE WEST SIDE OF WHAT'S NOW BROADWAY BETWEEN MAIN STREET AND GOING ALL THE WAY TO VILLARD AVENUE.
WHILE THE CHRISTIE'S CALLED THEIR HOME HOST, TAVERN SOURCES ARE DIVIDED AS TO WHETHER THEY BUILT A BRAND NEW HOME OR THEY INCORPORATED
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THE OLD TAVERN INTO AN EXPANDED RESIDENCE.AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T REMEMBER THE STORY, THERE'S A WHOLE STORY THAT'S OUTLINED AT IN REVOLUTIONARY WALK, OUR, UM, SPACE AT THE CORNER OF WAR BURTON AND BROADWAY ABOUT HOW THE POST TAVERN FIGURED IN THE WHOLE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
UM, AND, UM, OUR, UM, BATTLE AT EDGAR'S LANE.
SO, ALBERT CHRISTIE AND HIS WIFE, FRANCIS FEW CHRISTIE, WERE THE FIRST CHRISTIE FAMILY MEMBERS TO LIVE IN HASTING.
ALBERT LED LED THE EFFORT TO ESTABLISH OUR VILLAGE'S VERY FIRST CHURCH, THE DUTCH REFORM CHURCH, NOW KNOWN AS THE FIRST REFORM CHURCH.
PRIOR TO THE CHURCH'S CONSTRUCTION, IN 1850, SMALL PRAYER MEETINGS WERE HELD IN THE, IN THE CHRISTIA STATE'S GARDEN.
THE CHRISTIE'S, NOT UNLIKE THE LAND THEY LIVED ON, HAD A REVOLUTIONARY HERITAGE.
ALBERT'S WIFE, FRANCIS FEW WAS THE DAUGHTER OF WILLIAM FE, A FOUNDING FATHER, AND ONE OF THE FIRST US SENATORS FROM GEORGIA.
FRANCIS AND ALBERT HAD A SON, WILLIAM FEW CHRISTIE, WHO BECAME THE FIR VERY FIRST PRESIDENT OR MAYOR OF HASTINGS FROM 1879 TO 1881, AND THEN SERVED ANOTHER TERM FROM 1883 TO 1884.
UM, THIS IS WHERE I TELL THE KIDS TO TELL THEIR FAMILIES, UH, THEIR PARENTS, THAT THE VERY FIRST MAYOR WAS ON THE PROPERTY AT FOOD TOWN.
AND I'VE HAD PARENTS TELL ME, MY KID TOLD ME THAT THE VERY FIRST MAYOR LIVED IN FOODTOWN
ANYWAY, UM, WILLIAM CHRISTIE, AGAIN, SAME NAME, WILLIAM CHRISTIE, WILLIAM F CHRISTIE'S SON, AND WILLIAM CHRISTIE'S WIFE.
DOROTHEA LIVED ON THE ESTATE UNTIL THEIR PASSING IN THE LATE 1940S IN 1951, TO THE DISMAY OF MANY HASTINGS RESIDENTS WHO REMEMBERED THE HOUSE IN GARDENS FONDLY, THE PROPERTY WAS SOLD, THE HOUSE WAS RAISED A YEAR LATER.
SO WHAT'S THERE NOW? FOOD TOWN
IN 1958, THE HASTINGS TERRACES APARTMENT COMPLEX WAS BUILT ON THE HILLTOP WHERE THE RESIDENTS ONCE STOOD.
AFTER MUCH CONTROVERSY IN 1960, THE CHRISTIE FLOWER AND VEGETABLE GARDENS WERE TORN DOWN TO MAKE WAY FOR A MODERN A AND P SUPERMARKET.
IN 1994, YOU MAY REMEMBER THE A AND P WAS RENOVATED, SO ITS ENTRANCE FACED WEST TOWARDS THE PARKING LOT.
UM, IT HAD ORIGINALLY FACED MAIN STREET, UM, WHEN IT WAS FIRST CONSTRUCTED, AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, IN 19, I'M SORRY, IN 2015, THE A AND P CLOSED AFTER ITS PARENT COMPANY FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY AFTER SITTING EMPTY FOR A WHILE.
IN THE SUMMER OF 2016, FOOD TOWN TOOK OVER THE LOCATION MUCH TO THE, UM, HAPPINESS OF MANY PEOPLE.
UM, OKAY, THE NEXT, THIS IS ACTUALLY A SERIES OF BUILDINGS THAT WERE ONCE, UH, ONCE STOOD ON MAIN STREET, BUT NO LONGER.
UM, FROM APPROXIMATELY 1860 TO 1910 BROTHERS, SAMUEL AND ISAAC DOLAND WERE WELL-KNOWN HASTINGS RESIDENTS ESTABLISHING A GENERAL STORE AS FAR BACK AS 1864.
SOMETIME IN THE 1860S, THE DOLANS BUILT A ROW OF BUNGALOWS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF MAIN STREET, WEST OF THE CHRISTIE ESTATE GARDENS.
THESE BUNGALOWS WERE DUPLEXES INTENDED TO BE INCOME PROPERTIES.
THEY WERE KNOWN BY ALL IN THE VILLAGE.
AS THE DOLAND COTTAGES, MANY BLUE COLLAR FAMILIES, WORKING FAMILIES CALLED THE DOLAND COTTAGES THEIR HOME.
EVEN INTO THE MID 20TH CENTURY, ONE OF OUR TRUSTEES, ANNETTE BOROWITZ, LIVED IN THE COTTAGE, SORRY, ANNETTE
UM, VILLAGE HISTORY HAD IT THAT BECAUSE A SURVEY WAS NECESSARY TO THE INCORPORATION PROCESS, IN OCTOBER OF 1879, EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE WAS INVITED TO COME TO THE DOLAND GENERAL STORE DOWNTOWN TO VIEW THE COMPLETED INCORPORATION MAP.
IN 1896, SAMUEL DO DOLAND BUILT A TWO STORY BRICK BUILDING ON SPRING STREET.
AT THAT TIME, HE WAS THE VILLAGE POSTMASTER AND A DEALER IN DRY GOODS, GROCERIES, GENERAL MERCHANDISE, AND ALSO HAYES STRAW AND FEED.
HIS STORE WAS THE VILLAGE POST OFFICE FOR A TIME, AND JUST AS AN ASIDE POST OFFICE WOULD CHANGE DEPENDING ON WHETHER IT WAS WAS A REPUBLICAN OR A DEMOCRATIC MAYOR, AND IT WOULD JUST FLIP TO ANOTHER COMMERCIAL ENTITY OF THAT SAME PERSUASION.
UM, SO HE ALSO BUILT THE DOLAND APARTMENTS SHOWN HERE ON WARTON AVENUE IN 1929.
IN THEIR TIME, THE DOLAND BROTHERS WERE MAJOR REAL ESTATE AND
[00:30:01]
BUSINESS MOGULS.SO, WHAT'S THERE NOW? IN 1963, THE DOLAND COTTAGES WERE RAISED TO MAKE WAY FOR A NEW BRANCH OF THE FIRST NATIONAL CITIBANK.
THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN JUST LAST WEEK,
ALL RIGHT, NEXT, NEXT HOUSE, UH, RESIDENCE CALLED LOCUS WOOD.
IN 1828, WILLIAM EDGAR BUILT A WOODEN HOUSE ON A LARGE TRACT OF PROPERTY NEAR WHAT IS NOW BROADWAY.
JUDGE ANTHONY CONSTANT BOUGHT THE ESTATE IN 1832 AND CALLED HIS HOME LOCUST WOOD IN REFERENCE TO THE MANY LOCUST TREES ON THE GROUND.
IN 1850, ROBERT BO MINTER, A NEW YORK SHIPPING MAGNET, UM, PURCHASED CONSTANCE HOME AND FARM AS A SUMMER RESIDENCE.
BY THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY, MUCH OF THE LAND WAS SEWN TO SOLD TO A DEVELOPMENT COMPANY AND BECAME RIVERVIEW MANOR.
AROUND THE SAME TIME, FREDERICK AND EMMA ZINZER BOUGHT THE HOUSE SEEN HERE IN 1930.
AND WHAT REMAINED OF THE PROPERTY, THE ZINZER FAMILY WOULD LIVE THERE YEAR ROUND.
SO, WHO WAS FREDERICK ZINZER? FREDERICK J UH, G ZINZER ESTABLISHED THE ZINZER CHEMICAL COMPANY IN 1897 ON THE SITE OF THE FORMER SUGAR REFINERY ALONG THE BANKS OF THE HUDSON.
IN 1901, ZINZER WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT IE MAYOR FOR SEVERAL TERMS, SERVING UNTIL 1912.
AT THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR I, THE ZINZER CHEMICAL PLANT WAS AT ITS PEAK, BO 30 BUILDINGS ALONG THE WATERFRONT.
IN 1918, THE US GOVERNMENT CONTRACTED WITH ZINZER CHEMICAL TO MANUFACTURE MUSTARD GAS TO DEFEND AGAINST GERMANY.
IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT FREDERICK WAS MADE A KERNEL.
THE ARMISTICE WAS ANNOUNCED IN NOVEMBER BEFORE THE GAS WE BELIEVE WAS ACTUALLY PRODUCED.
DURING WORLD WAR II, THE PLANT PRODUCED DYES FOR TRACER SHELLS USED IN ARTILLERY, GUNFIRE, AND DYE STUFFS FOR SOLDIERS UNIFORMS. IN 1955, SIN CHEMICAL WAS ACQUIRED BY THE HERSHAW CHEMICAL COMPANY OF CLEVELAND O HEART.
AND WHAT'S THERE NOW, THE ZINZER LIVED AT LOCUST WOOD FOR OVER 50 YEARS.
AT THE AGE OF 87, HIS WIFE, EMMA CHARMAN ZINZER, DIED IN 1965.
SHORTLY AFTER THE VILLAGE ACQUIRED THE PROPERTY FROM THE ZZA ESTATE, THE HOUSE WAS TORN DOWN TO MAKE WAFER A PLAYGROUND, A PARKING AREA ON TWO BASEBALL FIELDS, ONE OF WHICH IS SEEN IN THIS RECENT PHOTO.
HERE'S A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE COMMUNITY GARDENS.
DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR, THE ZINZER DONATED A PORTION OF THEIR PROPERTY TO THE VILLAGE TO ESTABLISH A VICTORY GARDENS WHERE RESIDENTS COULD GROW THEIR OWN FOOD.
THE VICTORY GARDENS BECAME SUBSISTENCE GARDENS DURING THE DEPRESSION, WHERE VICTORY GARDENS, AGAIN DURING WORLD WAR II AND CONTINUE TO THIS DAY AS COMMUTER, UH, COMMUNITY GARDENS.
NEXT BUILDING, UM, LONG VIEW WAS A VERY SWANKY RESTAURANT LOCATED NEAR OUR SOUTHERN BORDER.
HERE'S AN IMAGE OF THE RESTAURANT LOOKING NORTHEAST TOWARDS THE MAIN ENTRANCE ON A POSTMARK, A POSTCARD.
THE PRINTED TEXT ON THE BACK OF THE POSTCARD READS NEW YORK'S MOST FASCINATING SUBURBAN RESORT, NATURALLY BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFULLY NATURAL
SO, UM, IT WAS AN ELEGANT RESTAURANT, UM, AND IT WAS A FARM TO TABLE RESTAURANT BEFORE FARM TO TABLE WAS POPULAR.
UM, YOU HERE'S THE SIGN, WHICH IS AT THE, UH, INTERSECTION OF, UH, SOUTH BROADWAY AND NEW BROADWAY.
AND THIS IS THE VIEW FROM THE VERANDA ON THE, UH, RESTAURANT.
UH, HERE'S, THESE ARE SOME WAITERS.
THE RESTAURANT RAISED ITS OWN LIVESTOCK, INCLUDING SNAPPING TURTLES FOR THEIR SPECIAL SOUP.
LOCALS, CHAUFFEUR AND FOOTMEN WHO WERE NOT LOCAL, WOULD BE SERVED FROM A LOWER, FROM A LOWER PRICE MENU IN A SEPARATE DINING AREA WHILE THEY WAITED TO BRING THEIR EMPLOYEE EMPLOYERS BACK TO THE CITY.
A PATRONAGE WAS SOME OF THE SWANKIEST IN NEW YORK, INCLUDING ENRICO, UH, CARUSO, THE ASTERS, UH, SOME OF THE BEST NAMES IN, UH, NEW YORK CITY.
[00:35:01]
1920S, THE RESTAURANT SAW A DECLINE IN PATRONAGE, LARGELY DUE TO PROHIBITION.AND IN 1927, LONG VIEW WAS FORCED TO CLOSE.
SIX YEARS LATER, PROPRIETOR, UH, FOLLOWING THE END OF THE PROHIBITION, PROPRIETOR XI TRIED TO REOPEN LONGVIEW, BUT THE GREAT DEPRESSION MADE HIS ATTEMPT TO REVIVE THE RESTAURANT.
FUTILE GUSHI DIED IN 1933, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT CLOSED FOR GOOD.
THE NEW YORK TIMES LAMENTED IN CONNECTION WITH GUSSIE'S DEATH.
QUOTE, HEART AILMENT CLAIMS MAN FAMED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD FOR PERFECT EATING.
SO WHAT'S THERE NOW? IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS, THE PROPERTY FELL OUT OF THE SPOTLIGHT AND OUT OF REPAIR.
IN 1953, LONGVIEW WAS DEMOLISHED AND THE PROPERTY WAS PURCHASED THROUGH THE JOINT EFFORT OF SEVERAL NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS RELATED TO THE JOHN E ANDRES FAMILY.
AT THE START OF THE DEPRESSION, JOHN E ANDRES WAS ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST MEN IN AMERICA.
HE WAS A PHILANTHROPIST CREATING THE CERNA FOUNDATION, WHICH IS ANDRES SPELLED BACKWARDS IN 19, UH, 17, AS WELL AS THE JULIA DYKEMAN ANDRES MEMORIAL CHILDREN'S HOME IN YONKERS, 19 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH IN 1934, HIS FAMILY WOULD ESTABLISH THE JOHN E ANDRES MEMORIAL AS A HOME FOR THE ELDERLY.
THE JOHN E ANDRES MEMORIAL ADMITTED ITS FIRST RESIDENCE ON AUGUST 3RD, 1953, AND HAS REMAINED IN, IN USE AS ANDRESON HUDSON TO THE PRESENT DAY.
HERE'S ONE OF MY FAVORITES, BERKELEY CREST.
THIS BEAUTIFUL MANSION WAS BUILT IN THE 1860S OF WHITE DOLEMITE MARBLE, WHICH WE BELIEVE WAS MINED FROM THE HASTINGS MARBLE QUARRY.
IT WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE KIRKLAND FAMILY OF HASTINGS WHO WERE WEALTHY SHOE MERCHANTS.
BILLY BURKE, AN ACTRESS WHOSE MOST ENDURING ROLE WOULD BE GLINDA, THE GOOD WITCH IN THE WIZARD OF OZ, WAS SUCCESSFUL DECADES BEFORE AS A BROADWAY STAR, AS A SINGLE WOMAN.
SHE LIVED IN A RENTAL IN YONKERS WITH HER MOTHER BLANCHE.
IN 1910, BILLY DECIDED TO BUY THE KIRKHAM ESTATE IN HASTINGS ON HUDSON FOR THE THEN PRINCELY SUM OF $60,000.
BILLY'S MOTHER BLANCHE, WE BELIEVE IS THE ONE WHO NAMED THE PROPERTY BERKELEY CREST.
SO BILLY BERK, THIS BILLY BURKE BOUGHT THIS PROPERTY BEFORE SHE WAS MARRIED.
IN 1914, BILLY MARRIED BROADWAY, SHELMAN, FLORENCE FELD.
TWO YEARS LATER, THEIR DAUGHTER PATRICIA WAS BORN, AND THE FAMILY MOVED TO BERKELEY CREST.
AS SOON AS THEY RELOCATED, FLO GOT TO WORK.
HE INSTALLED FLOWER GARDENS AND UPGRADED THE PLAYHOUSE INTO A FULLY FUNCTIONING ONE AND A HALF STORY MODEL OF MOUNT VERNON GEORGE WASHINGTON'S HOME.
THE IMAGE YOU SEE AT THE TOP LEFT ISN'T BERKELEY CREST THEIR HOME.
IT'S THEIR DAUGHTER'S PLAYHOUSE.
THERE WERE GREENHOUSES, DUCK PONDS, AND A TENNIS COURT.
THEIR POOL WAS DESIGNED BY JOSEPH URBAN, THE ZIGFIELD FOLLY SET DESIGNER.
BOTH BILLY AND FLO LOVED ANIMALS.
AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, THEY HAD MONKEY AN ELEPHANT, TWO BLACK BEARS, LION CUBS, THREE BUFFALOES, DONKEYS, A HERD OF DEER, SHEEP, AND SEVERAL PONIES LIVING ON THE PROPERTY.
KIND OF INTERESTING, UM, THE ZIG FELLS ENTERTAINED IN HIGH STYLE AND LARGE SOCIAL GATHERINGS WHERE THE NORM, MANY OF THE BIGGEST STARS AND MUSICIANS OF THE DAY, CAME TO VISIT AND OFTEN STAYED FOR THE WEEKEND.
GUESTS INCLUDED GEORGE GERSHWIN, RICHARD ROGERS, JEROME KERN, RANDY BRYCE, AND WILL ROGERS.
IT ALL CAME TO A SUDDEN HALT IN, NO.
IN OCTOBER OF 1929, FLORENCE ZIG FELD HAD INVESTED $3 MILLION IN THOSE DO THE DOLLARS BACK IN THE TWENTIES IN THE STOCK MARKET.
SO THE GREAT WALL STREET CRASH OF 1929 HIT THE COUPLE HARD.
THAT 3 MILLION WOULD BE WORTH 44 MILLION TODAY, PRACTICALLY OVERNIGHT, THE ZIG FIELD'S ENTIRE FORTUNE EVAPORATED AFTER FLOW'S DEATH IN 1932, BILLY BURKE WAS LEFT WITH DEATHS OF 500,000, EQUIVALENT TO OVER 7 MILLION TODAY.
AFTER MANY LAWSUITS IN 1940, BILLY WAS COMPELLED BY THE COURTS TO LIQUIDATE ALL OF HER ASSETS.
THAT YEAR, BILLY SOLD BILL BERKELEY CREST TO FRENCH INDUSTRIALISTS JACQUES ARD FOR $36,000.
ALMOST HALF OF ITS PREVIOUSLY ASSESSED VALUE.
[00:40:01]
GERARD PROMPTLY DEMOLISHED THE WHITE STONE MANSION, REPLACING IT WITH A MORE MODEST HOME.IN THE FRENCH BAROQUE STYLE, THAT STRUCTURE IS THE ONE THAT MANY HASTINGS RESIDENTS STILL REMEMBER, AND IT'S THE ONE SHOWN HERE IN THIS IMAGE.
THE PROPERTY THEN CHANGED HANDS SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE BEING PURCHASED BY ANACONDA WIRE AND CABLE CABLE.
IN 1956, THEY FLOATED THAT AND THEN ABANDONED PLANS TO BUILD AN OFFICE BUILDING ON THE BERK ESTATE.
IN 1967, IN THE MIDST OF THE BABY BOOM, THE HASTINGS BOARD OF EDUCATION PROPOSED TO BUY THE PROPERTY FOR A NEW SCHOOL FACILITY, WHICH AT THE TIME WERE DESPERATELY OVERCROWDED.
THEY WANTED TO BUILD A NEW HIGH SCHOOL ON THE PROPERTY.
VOTERS APPROVED THE PURCHASE OF THE BRK ESTATE, BUT VOTED DOWN THE PROPOSITION TO CONSTRUCT A HIGH SCHOOL, SORT OF TYPICAL HASTINGS
WE GET THE PROPERTY, BUT WE DON'T APPROVE THE THE BUILDING.
THE GERARD HOUSE BRIEFLY SERVED, SERVED AS HEADQUARTERS FOR THE HASTINGS BOARD OF EDUCATION.
IN 1979, THE HASTINGS CENTER, A BIOETHICS THINK TANK MOVED INTO THE SPACE AFTER THE GROUP LEFT HASTINGS.
IN 1987, THE LAND BECAME INCREASINGLY OVERGROWN AND STREWN WITH LITTER.
SO WHAT'S THERE NOW? AFTER THE HASTINGS CENTER RELOCATED THE GERARD HOUSE, WHICH HAD NOT, WAS NOT IN GOOD CONDITION, WAS DEMOLISHED.
THE SCHOOL BOARD DECIDED TO CONSTRUCT TWO PLAYING FIELDS ON THE SITE.
AND IN MARCH OF 2014, HASTINGS VOTERS APPROVED PLANS FOR ADDITIONAL FIELDS.
TODAY, THE BURKE ESTATE IS A BUSY HUB OF ATHLETIC ACTIVITY.
HERE'S THE NEXT ONE, UM, THE SPRING HILL SANITARIUM.
IN 1842, ALEXANDER BERNIE BUILT A GRAND HOUSE IN A SPOT HIGH UP ON A HILL IN HASTINGS.
IN 1864, THE HOUSE WAS PURCHASED BY MARY DABNEY SMITH, WHO RENOVATED THE MANSION INTO A FRENCH EMPIRE STYLE WITH A MANSARD ROOF, WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE RIGHT OF THIS POSTCARD SHOWN HERE, HOUSE, SORT OF LIKE APPENDED ONTO THE BUILDING.
IN 1913, THE HOUSE WAS EXPANDED AND CONVERTED INTO A HOSPITAL CALLED THE SPRING HILL SANITARIUM.
A PHOTO ON THE LEFT SHOWS THE GARDENER'S COTTAGE ON THE PROPERTY AT THE CORNER OF SOUTH BROADWAY, AND THE AQUEDUCT LOOKING, LOOKING WEST ALONG THE SANITARIUM DRIVEWAY.
THE DRIVEWAY, WHICH NO LONGER EXISTS, WAS CALLED MCFARLAND DRIVE.
THE NAME YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE IT, RAN THROUGH THE SOUTH SIDE OF WHAT IS NOW REYNOLDS FIELD, AND FOLLOWED PART OF THE PATH OF TODAY'S ROAD TO GEM KAPO.
SO THIS IS A LITTLE HARD TO SEE, BUT I'LL EXPLAIN IN A MINUTE.
MC, DR. MCFARLAND SOLD HIS PROPERTY IN 1927 TO THE JEWISH MENTAL HEALTH SOCIETY WHO MOVED 40 MENTALLY ILL PATIENTS INTO THE FORMER MANSION.
THE SPRING HILL HILL SANITARIUM WAS RENAMED THE HASTINGS HILLSIDE HOSPITAL.
TWO YEARS LATER, THE SOCIETY FILED PLANS FOR A NEW WING PART OF AN AMBITIOUS $1.25 MILLION EXPANSION PROGRAM TO ACCOMMODATE 160 NEW PATIENTS.
THE VILLAGE REJECTED THE APPLICATION AND SUED THE SOCIETY.
NEW YORK STATE COURT SIDED WITH THE VILLAGE.
IN 1936, THE US SUPREME COURT REFUSED TO HEAR THE CASE.
IT WAS, I BELIEVE, THE ONLY CASE GENERATED OUT OF HASTINGS THAT WENT POTENTIALLY UP TO THE US SUPREME COURT.
UM, BUT THEY REFUSED TO HEAR THE CASE, WHICH MEANT THAT THE LOWER COURT'S RULING WOULD STAND AND THE CONSTRUCTION COULD NOT TAKE PLACE.
IN 1941, THE VILLAGE OF HASTINGS ON HUDSON PURCHASED THE LAND TO CREATE HILLSIDE PARK AND THE BUILDING, THE OLD HOSPITAL BUILDING WAS RAISED THE FOUNDATION OF WHAT WE BELIEVE WAS THE ORIGINAL HOUSE AND HOSPITAL CAN BE SEEN NEAR THE SIDE OF THE VEOLIA WATER TOWER, LOCATED BY THE PATH THAT RUNS FROM HILLSIDE ELEMENTARY TO CHEKA POOL.
IT'S NOW GREEN, WHICH, UH, IS, WAS NEWS TO ME BECAUSE IT WAS ALWAYS WHITE BEFORE, BUT YOU COULD STILL SEE IT.
MAYBE IT'LL CAMOUFLAGE BETTER IN THE OTHER, IT'S GREEN.
THIS IS ONE THAT WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION ON, BUT I'LL SHARE WHAT WE, WE KNOW.
I'M GUESSING MOST OF YOU DON'T KNOW THAT THERE WAS A TENNIS CLUB IN OUR HUDSON HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD, WHICH IS LOCATED AT THE TOP OF MOUNT HOPE BOULEVARD.
WE DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THIS CLUB.
ONLY THAT ITS MAIN CLUBHOUSE WAS ON SOUTHGATE AVENUE, AND IT'S TWO TENNIS COURTS WERE LOCATED IN THE SMALL RAVINE JUST BELOW.
THERE WERE ALSO INDICATIONS THAT THE CLUB SPONSORED PARTIES AND THEATER PRODUCTIONS IN ITS HEYDAY IN THE 1920S.
[00:45:02]
HERE'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TODAY.THIS RESIDENCE WAS REMODELED A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO AND LOOKS SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT THAN THE ORIGINAL TENNIS CLUB STRUCTURE, BUT I THINK THEY USED THE ORIGINAL PILINGS AND POSSIBLY THE FOUNDATION, THE ORIGINAL BUILDING.
AND NOW THIS IS THE FINAL, UH, I BELIEVE, UM, LOST BUILDING.
UM, MANY RESIDENTS DON'T KNOW THAT HASTINGS WAS ONCE SERVED BY A SECOND RAILROAD.
ON MAY 21ST, 1869, THE NEW YORK AND BOSTON RAILROAD WAS CHARTERED TO BUILD A, BUILD A LINE FROM THE HIGH BRIDGE IN THE BRONX, UM, TO BREWSTER IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
EARLY ON, THE RAILROAD HANDLED ONLY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC, AND IT TRANSPORTED IRON ORE FROM MAJOR MINE NEAR BREWSTER.
HERE'S THE PATH OF THE THE TRAIN.
BY THE EARLY 1890S, THE OLD PUTT, AS IT BECAME KNOWN, UM, BECAME PRIMARILY A PASSENGER LINE.
IT EVENTUALLY BECAME KNOWN AS THE NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD SYSTEM'S PUTNAM DIVISION, AND IN ITS HEYDAY HAD MORE THAN 30 STOPS ALONG ITS 54 MILE ROUTE.
FACING STOP WAS THE MOUNT HOPE STATION, LOCATED ON THE EAST SIDE OF TODAY'S SAWMILL PARKWAY, JUST NORTH OF RAVENSDALE.
AFTER MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY OPENED IN 1886, MANY PASSENGERS WOULD TAKE THE PUT UP FROM NEW YORK CITY TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS.
UH, THEY WOULD GO THERE AND TO THE TWO SMALLER JEWISH CEMETERIES NEXT DOOR.
SO WHAT'S THERE NOW? UM, THE LACK OF A SECOND TRACK PLUS NO DIRECT CONNECTION TO GRAND CENTRAL WERE BIG NEGATIVES FOR THE TRAIN, UM, SYSTEM, AS WERE THE MANY LOCAL STOPS.
BY THE 1930S, PASSENGER TRAFFIC HAD DECLINED ON MAY 29TH, 1958, THE LAST PASSENGER TRAIN DEPARTED FROM THE BRONX.
ALTHOUGH OCCASIONAL FREIGHT SHIPMENTS CONTINUED IN 1982, THE PUTT SEIZED OPERATION.
NOWADAYS, THE PATH OF THE PUTNAM LINE MAKES UP THE SOUTH COUNTY, THE NORTH COUNTY, AND THE PUTNAM COUNTY TRAILWAYS IN OUR AREA.
THE SOUTH COUNTY TRAILWAY COMPLETED IN 19 SEVEN, UH, SORRY, IN 2017, SPANS 14 MILES FROM VAN CORTLAND PARK TO EAST VIEW, AND IS ONE OF OUR AREA'S MOST POPULAR, WALKING AND BIKING.
WE HAVE A LITTLE TRAVELING MIC HERE.
MAYBE SOMEBODY COULD RAISE THE LIGHT.
QUESTIONS? ANY QUESTIONS, ANYBODY? I'LL TAKE PICTURES.
SO WHAT, WHAT YEAR WAS THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING BUILT? 1929.
WHAT, WHAT? THAT WAS IN ONE OF THOSE PICTURES.
IT LOOKED LIKE A GIGANTIC TREE WITH AN OPENING IN IT.
DO YOU KNOW WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THAT WHERE IT WAS, UH, AT THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING? NO, I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT WAS.
IN THE PICTURES WITH THE WAITERS.
WAITERS, YEAH, WITH THE WAITERS SITTING DOWN.
OH, THAT, THAT WAS PROBABLY, WELL, THAT WOULD BE UP ON THE ANDRUS PROPERTY.
SEE THAT GIGANTIC TUNNEL? YEAH.
WELL, WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK AT HERE, YOU SEE THE, AT THE TOP OF THE, THAT HILL, FIRST OF ALL, ANDRES ON HUDSON HAS SOME OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR VIEWS YOU COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
UM, AND THAT'S WHERE THE RESTAURANT WAS.
SO I'M SURE THAT THERE WERE TREES THAT WERE TAKEN DOWN WHEN THAT BUILDING WAS, UM, CONSTRUCTED.
SO IT WAS SOMEWHERE UP THERE, THE TREE WOULD BE UP THERE.
FOREST, I KNOW THERE WERE A LOT OF TREES, AS YOU COULD TELL FROM THE NAMING OF ALL THE ESTATE ESTATES, ELM ELM CROFT, AND THE LINDENS, AND, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF FOLIAGE.
UH, DOES ANYTHING, UM, EXISTS STILL OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE HOUSE AT LOCUST WOOD? HMM.
I THINK THAT WAS ALL TAKEN DOWN.
IN FACT, WE HAVE A PHOTO THAT SHOWS A PATH FROM THE HOUSE TO BROADWAY.
IT'S SORT OF, I THINK, NEAR ONE OF THE BASEBALL FIELDS, BUT EVERYTHING WAS DEMOLISHED COOL.
[00:50:05]
IN THE PHOTOGRAPH OF ELM CROSS, THAT IS THE VILLAGE HALL.THERE'S THESE TWO GRAND STONE STAIRCASES THAT IS STILL THERE.
AND I'M WONDERING, THE ONE THAT GOES OFF TO THE SOUTH, COMING TO THE, WHERE THE LIBRARY IS NOW, WAS THERE A BUILDING THERE? BECAUSE THERE'S A STAIRCASE GOING UP THERE.
UM, I KNOW THAT, UM, IN 1909, THERE WAS A HUDSON FULTON CELEBRATION.
IT WAS CELEBRATING HENRY HUDSON'S DISCOVERY, I GUESS, OF THIS AREA.
AND FULTON'S STEAMBOAT, UM, BUSINESS.
AND THAT WAS WHEN THEY, UM, INAUGURATED FULTON PARK, WHICH IS THE LITTLE BIT RIGHT NEXT TO HERE.
BUT, UM, WHEN ELM CROFT WAS STILL STANDING BETWEEN 1909 TO 1929, THE PARK TOOK THE PLACE OF WHERE THE LIBRARY IS.
SO I'M GUESSING THAT THOSE STEPS WENT UP TO THE PARK.
UH, IF YOU GO BACK TO THE FIRST REFORMED CHURCH YEAH.
IT'S VERY INTERESTING TO SEE THE TROLLEY.
AND THERE WAS A TROLLEY LINE THAT WENT DOWN MAIN STREET, I THINK, WASN'T IT? RIGHT.
IT WENT DOWN MAIN STREET, AND THEN IT WENT, UM, UP BART INTO UNIONTOWN.
SO YOU COULD SEE THE, CAN YOU SEE THE TROLLEY? YEAH.
YOU COULD SEE THE TROLLEY ON THE LEFT.
SO THIS IS FIVE CORNERS WHERE THE CHURCH IS NOW, AND IT'S GOING UP BAR AGAIN.
AND IT WOULD GO UP INTO, UM, UNIONTOWN.
ONE OF THE EXCITING THINGS THAT HAPPENED IS ONE OF THE TROLLEYS GOT OUT OF CONTROL AND WENT, YOU REALIZE WHAT THE HILL IS THERE COMING DOWN TOWARD WHERE THE MAIN STREET YEAH.
AND IT WENT OVER THE, OVER THE EDGE, OFF THE ROAD AND KILLED THE DRIVER, I THINK IT WAS, AND WENT INTO THE CHRISTIE GARDENS.
SOMEBODY TOOK THE TURN TOO FAST.
UM, THERE WAS ONLY ONE SET OF RAILS.
UM, THERE WAS ALSO A LACK OF COMMUTER PARKING ON THE OLD PUTT THAT WAS A PROBLEM AND A LOT OF LOCAL STOPS, AND IT DIDN'T CONNECT ANYTHING.
YOU HAD TO WALK LIKE A MILE WHEN YOU GOT OFF AT HIGHBRIDGE TO CONNECT TO ANY KIND OF SUBWAY.
SO IT, IT DIDN'T SEEM TO BE REALLY A SMART MOVE TO NOT CONNECT
OH, HERE, RICH, YOU WANT OH YEAH.
UH, SO THERE'S CHRISTIE STREET IN LOWER MANHATTAN, UH, AND I BELIEVE IT'S SPELLED THE SAME.
DO YOU KNOW IF THERE'S ANY CONNECTION TO THIS? I DON'T KNOW, ACTUALLY.
OH, WELL MAYBE YOU CAN ANSWER.
TAKE THE MICROPHONE IF YOU OH, JUST YES.
YEAH, LET'S START HERE AND THEN I'LL COME BACK TO YOU.
YOU'RE NOT GONNA SPEAK TO IT? OH, NO.
WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE OLD PUTT AND THE SOUTH COUNTY TRAIL.
YOU KNOW WHERE IT ENDS TODAY? MM-HMM.
NO, THE CANADIAN BORDER IN TWO PLACES.
YOU, THE TRAIL HAS NOW BEEN DESIGNED BY THE STATE TO RUN ALL THE WAY FROM JUST OVER HERE.
HUH? I MEAN, YOU CAN LITERALLY, IF YOU WANT TO, YOU CAN WALK TO THAT TRAIL FROM HERE MM-HMM
AND YOU CAN END UP ON THE CANADIAN BORDER AND ON THE OTHER SIDE THERE'S A 2,500 MILE WALKING TRAIL.
SO THIS, ON THIS SIDE OF THE BORDER, IT'S 787 MILES, 2,500 ON THAT SIDE.
SO I'M KIND OF SURPRISED THAT NOBODY ASKED ME THE QUESTION.
THE KIDS ALWAYS ASK ME WHAT STARTED THE FIRE AT THE SUGAR REFINERY.
THEY GET VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE FIRE AND THE SUGAR REFINERY.
AND I'M GONNA ANSWER THE QUESTION, EVEN THOUGH YOU DIDN'T ASK IT, BECAUSE THERE ARE TWO MAIN THOUGHTS ABOUT THE SUGAR REFINERY, REFINERY FIRE.
ONE WAS THAT THERE WAS A LITTLE TOO MUCH MERRY MIN GOING ON.
UM, 'CAUSE IT WAS RIGHT AROUND
[00:55:01]
CHRISTMAS TIME, AND THEY USED BIG VATS OF BOILING SUGAR AND SOMEHOW IT OVERFLOWED AND THAT THAT DUST WAS SO EXPLOSIVE THAT IT STARTED A FIRE.AND THEN THE OTHER THEORY WAS ARSON, BUT THEY NEVER REALLY FIGURED OUT WHAT CAUSED THE FIRE.
THAT YOU SEE IN ALL THE PICTURES WAS SOMEBODY ELSE WHO LIVED ON THE RIGHT.
LOUIS HEIN, WHO PHOTOGRAPHED CHILDREN WORKING IN FACTORIES.
UH, THROUGHOUT MOSTLY THE NORTHEAST MM-HMM
HE, WELL, HE DESIGNED, UM, TREE, DESIGNED THE ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING AND THE HIGH SCHOOL.
HE WAS LESS OF AN ARCHITECT AND MORE OF A BUSINESS PERSON IN THE, HIS, HIS PARTNERS DID MORE OF THE DESIGN.
I WON'T CUT THROUGH THE MIDDLE.
I'M WONDERING IF THE SOCIETY, UH, HAD HAD A, UH, ORAL HISTORY PROJECT THAT, OR DO YOU HAVE ONE NOW AS WELL? IS THE, WELL, WE HAVE AN ORAL, A SERIES OF ORAL, ORAL HISTORIES, AND WE HAD SOME PROJECTS.
WE HAVE OVER 180 ORAL HISTORIES ON OUR WEBSITE THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO LISTEN TO AND VIEW.
THE EARLY ONES ARE AUDIO ONLY.
UM, AND UNTIL ABOUT THE 1990S, AND THEN SINCE THE 1990S, THERE HAVE BEEN VIDEOTAPED BY H-O-H-T-V HERE IN HASTINGS.
UM, SO WE HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION ON LIKE, PEOPLE WHO WORKED IN THE FACTORIES ON THE WATERFRONT, UM, IMMIGRANT STORIES.
WE HAVE STORIES OF THE HISTORIC PINECREST NEIGHBORHOOD, WHICH WAS INTEGRATED AS OF 1939, WHICH WAS AN EARLY INTEGRATED NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO WE HAVE A LOT OF THOSE KIND OF THINGS, UM, AVAILABLE FOR FREE IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO LISTEN THEIR FASCINATING STORIES.
DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? YES.
WELL, WE'D LIKE TO, UH, WELCOME YOU TO REFRESHMENTS NEXT DOOR.
UM, WE HAVE SOME SNACKS, UH, SOME, UH, FAMOUS, UH, PUNCH HASTINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUNCH.
AND IF ANY ANYONE WANTS TO BECOME A MEMBER, WE HAVE LINDSAY WHO'S HEADING BACK THERE WHO CAN ACCOMMODATE THAT AS WELL.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ATTENTION.